Hebron: Firm plans pink women-only taxis

Hebron – Ma'an – A Palestinian company is planning to bring women-only taxis – a phenomenon already popular in Beirut and elsewhere – to the conservative West Bank city of Hebron.

Hazem At-Takrawi, the director of the Ishraqat training and development firm, said on Monday that his company is already training women to drive the female-only cabs. As in Beirut, the cars would be pink, he told anchor Adel Eghraieb on the television show “On the Table.”

Asked whether Hebron and Palestinians in general would accept the idea, At-Takrawi said the company already commissioned a survey that found that 95% of Palestinians would accept the new cabs.

In addition, he said the program will create jobs, claiming that more than 100 women, mainly university graduates, already applied for positions as cabbies. At-Takrawi said that if the idea succeeds in Hebron, he will expand the business to other West Bank cities.

Women-only taxis are already on the streets in Beirut, Dubai, Cairo, and Tehran.